Reorganized Government
General Assembly of Virginia

Mr.
PORTER, from the Committee on Finance, reported a bill to amend the
33d section of chapter 44 of the Code of Virginia.

The
bill was read by its title and ordered to be
printed.

Mr.
PORTER offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Committee on Enrolled Bills
inquire into the expediency of recording the acts of the General
Assembly in a book instead of enrolling them on
parchment.

Adopted.

Mr.
VANCE, the following:

Resolved, That on Thursday this House adjourn
sine die, unless it shall be deemed expedient to adjourn at
an earlier day.

Objections being made, the resolution was ordered to
lie over.

Mr.
RUFFNER offered the following:

Resolved, as the sense of this body, That no
measures be adopted by this body that may not be necessary to carry
forward the government until the meeting of the regular session, on
the first Monday in December next.

Adopted.

Mr.
RATCLIFFE offered the following:

Resolved by the General Assembly of Virginia,
That the Governor of this Commonwealth be, and he is hereby,
authorized to place at the disposal of the several delegates of the
counties of Wayne and Mason, five hundred stands of arms, to be by
them distributed among the loyal citizens of those counties for
their defense.

Referred to the Military Committee.

House
bill No. 4, entitled an Act to regulate the volunteer militia force
not mustered into the service of the United States was taken up,
read a second time, amended and ordered to be
engrossed.

House
bill No. 6, prescribing the duties and fixing the compensation of
the clerks of the two Houses, was taken up but afterwards laid on
the table.

House
bill No. 7, abolishing the Board of Public Works, and conferring
its powers on the Governor and council, was taken up, read a second
time and ordered to its engrossment.

The
House then proceeded to the consideration of engrossed
bills.

House
bill No. ___, authorizing County courts, corporations, &ampc.,
to appropriate money for the public defence, was taken up, read a
third time and passed.

House
bill No. 3, authorizing the issue of bank notes of less
denomination than five dollars, was taken up, read a third time and
passed.

House
bill No. 5, for the prevention of offences against the Commonwealth
and appointment of patrols during the war; was taken up and
subsequently laid on the table.

Mr.
WEST moved to take up his resolution in reference to the furnishing
of desks. He hoped that the matter would be considered. Gentlemen
persisted in sitting at the table much to the annoyance of the
House, and he thought that the desks ought to be
provided.

Mr.
PORTER opposed the proposition. He urged that it would be
calculated to embarrass the prosecution of business. Many very
important deliberative bodies did not use desks - the two Houses of
Parliament did not.

Mr.
WEST replied at some length, insisting that, instead of
embarrassing, it would facilitate the prosecution of business. He
did not care whether desks were provided or not; he intended, for
his own part, to have one. He did not expect that this was to be
the last Legislature that would ever meet in
Virginia.

The
resolution was taken up.

The
report of the Sergeant-at-Arms was read.

Mr.
WEST did not insist on his resolution, and it was laid on the
table.

Mr.
WILSON offered the following:

Resolved, That the Committee on
Finance_______________ sheriffs of the Commonwealth a limited time
other than that now fixed by law, for paying in to the State
Treasury licenses and other dues.

Also
the following:

Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary
inquire into the expediency of amending the 2d section of the 42d
chapter, so as to provide for the filling of the offices of the
Circuit Court of Ohio county.

Both of
which were adopted.

Mr.
CROTHER offered the following which was adopted:

Resolved, That the Committee on Printing take
into consideration the propriety of authorizing the publication of
the Ordinances of the Convention and the acts of the General
Assembly in the newspapers.

Mr.
SMITH offered the following, which was also adopted:

Resolved, That the Committee on Banks inquire
into the expediency of legalizing the passage of bank notes of
other States of less denomination than five dollars.

Mr.
PORTER moved that the resolution of the Senate on the subject of
printing be taken up.

A
message from the Senate announced the passage of the Resolutions of
Instruction, adopted by the House yesterday.

Mr.
PORTER, moved to substitute for the resolution of the Senate the
following:

Resolved, That this House will, with the
concurrence of the Senate, proceed, on Tuesday, the 16th inst., to
the election of public printer.

The
resolution was amended by fixing Friday the 12th and
adopted:

Mr.
PORTER was requested to communicate the passage of the resolution
to the Senate.

Mr.
LOGAN offered the following:

Resolved, That the Committee on Finance inquire
into the expediency of reporting a bill altering the manner and
rate of compensation to be paid to the public
printer.